Swivel for electrical conductors.



F. GARRISON. SWIVEL FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS.

.APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, ms.

1,1 99,1 72. Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

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UNITED sT T s PATENT OFFICE.

FLINT GARRISON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

v SWIVEL FOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOBS.

Application filed November 8, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FLINT GARRISON, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Swivels for Electrical Conductors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,

such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to devices that are used for connecting electrical conductors together.

One object of the invention is to providea device that will prevent an electrical conductor from breaking when one portion of same is twisted or turned with relation to its other portion.

Another object is to provide a device that can be applied easily to a flexible conductor, such, for example, as a telephone cord or a lamp cord, so as to prevent the conductor from twisting or becoming snarled, due to frequent handling of the instrument or obvided with binding screws, or other suitable means for enabling the adjacent ends of an electrical conductor to be connected to the contacts.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a longitudinal sectional view of a swivel constructed in accordance with my invention that is designed for use with a flexible conductor composed of a plurality of strands of wire. Fig. 2 is a top plan viewof one member of the device; and Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the other member of the device.

The shape of the two cooperating members or parts of the device and the form of the cooperating contacts on said members are immaterial, so far as my broad idea is concerned, and while I have herein illustrated my invention embodied in a swivel that is designed forus'e with an electrical Specificationbf Letters Patent.

Serial No. 60,273.

conductor provided with three strands of .wire, I wish it to be understood that the invention is applicable to a swivel or connecting device deslgned for use with a conductor composed of either a single strand or a plurality of strands of wire. Furthermore, my broad idea is applicable to a swivel designed for use with a rigid electrical conductor that is apt to be subjected to twisting or torsional strains.

Referring to the drawin s, which illustrate the preferred form 0 my invention, A and B designate two members that are provided with cooperating contacts which bear snugly upon each other when said members are assembled or connected together, as shown in Fig. 1. The contact carrying portions of both of said members Patented Sept. 26, 1916.

are formed of rubber or some other suitable insulating material, and the cooperating contacts thereon are so designed that one member can turn or rotate freely with relationto the other member without disengaging said contacts or breaking the electrical connection between the contacts. In the form of my invention herein illustrated the members A and B are substantially semi-' spherical shaped and the member A is pro vided with three segmental shaped contacts 1', 2 and 3, each of which has a binding screw 4 or other suitable device for enabling an electrical conductor to be connected thereto. The contacts 1, 2 and 3 project forwardly from the inner end of the member A'and i the binding screws 4 are seated in holes formed in the bottom of a recess 5 in the end face of said member A. The member B is provided with three concentrically arranged, ring-shaped contacts 1 2 and 3 that. are arranged in annular grooves 5 formed in the end face of the member B which receive the forwardly-projecting portions of the contacts 1, 2 and 3 on the mem--.

ber A when. the members A and B are assembled. Thev segmental-shaped contacts on the members A have more or less resiliency and they are so arranged that they partially surround or embrace the contact rings on the member B and exert sufficient pressure on same to form a good electrical contact when the device is in use.

The member B is preferably hollow or in.

the form of a shell and the portion 6 of said I member that carries the contact rings 1*, 2

and 3 is preferably detachably connected to said shell by means of cooperating screw threads on the periphery of the portion 6 and on the inner side of the shell, as shown in Fig. 1. Each of the contact rings on the member B is provided with an extension 7 that carries a binding screw 8, or other suitable device, so as to-enable an electrical con.- ductor to be detachably connected thereto, but it will of course be obvious that various other means could be employed for connecting the wires or conductors to the contacts on the member B without departing from the spirit of my invention. The members A and B are swiveled together or joined in such a manner that one member can turn or rotate freely with relation to the other member. In the device herein shown the memhere A and B are connected together; by a bolt 9 on the member A that projects through an opening in the portion 6 of the member B, the head of said bolt being permanently embedded in the member-A and the nut 9 on said bolt being arranged on the inner side of the portion 6 of the member B.

The members A and B are provided at their outer ends with openings 10 through which the adjacent ends of the conductor C lead, and if the conductor is of the type that is commonly used on telephones, the cord or strand 11 of same, which is used to take up the strain on the wires of the conductor, can be connected to the bolt 9 on the member A and to a ring 12 that is swiveled on said bolt between the nut 9 thereon and the portion 6 of the member B through which the bolt passes.

To install the device the conductor C is first cut in two and the strands or wires m in one portion of same are securely connected to the contacts 1, 2 and 3 on the member A by means of the binding screws 4, it, of course, being understood that the members A and B have been previously disassembled or taken apart. The shell or body portion of the member B is then unscrewed from the portion 6 of said member so as to enable the strands or-wires in the other portion of the conductor C to be connected to the extensions 7 on the' ringshaped contacts 1, 2-and 3 on the member B and thereafter the portion 6 of the member B is slipped over the bolt 9 and secured in place by tightening the nut 9, the act of arranging the portion 6 in operative position causing the segmentalshaped contacts on the member A to be pressed tightly against the ring-shaped contacts on said portion 6. The assembling of the device is completed by screwing the shell or body portion of the member B onto the portion 6 of said member.

A device of the construction above (18.

electrical conductor, either rigid or flexible,

that is subjected, or liable to be subjected, I

to twisting strains, and in View of the fact that it comprises two portions that are free toturn or revolve with relation to each other, it eliminates the possibility of the conductor becoming broken, due to. abnormal, torsional strains, or from' becoming twisted out of shape.

While the device is capable of general use, it is particularly adapted for use on a flexible conductor-,such, for example, as a telephone cord or a lamp cord, owing to the fact that it prevents such a conductor from becoming snarled or twisted, due to frequent handling of the instrument or object to which the conductor leads.

Having thus described my invention,-

what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A swivel connecting device for electrical conductors composed of two members pivotallyconnected together so that one can turn or rotate with relation to the other, a plurality of segmental-shaped resilient contacts on one member, a plurality of annular grooves in the other member for receiving said contacts, and ring-shaped contacts in said grooves that are embraced or partially surrounded by said segmental-shaped contacts when the device is in use.

2. A swivel connecting. device for electrical conductors composed of two members that are provided with cooperating contacts which always remain in engagement with each other when said members are assembled, one of said members having a removable portion provided with a plurality of annular spaced grooves in which said contacts are arranged, and a device on the other member that projects through said removable portion and thus joins said members. together so that one can turn or rotate with relation to the other.

3. A swivel connecting device for electrical conductors, comprising two members, one of which is provided with aremovable portion having a plurality of annular spaced grooves therein of different diam eters, a plurality of ring-shaped. contacts arranged edgewise in said grooves, resilient, segmentalshaped contacts on the other member that project into said grooves and cooperate with the vertical side portions of said ring-shaped contacts, a pivotal connection between said members, and means for enabling electrical conductors to be detachably connected to said contacts.

4. A swivel connection for electrical. conductors consisting of two members, one of which is provided with segmental-shaped contacts that project forwardly from the end thereof, a removable portion on the other member that forms the end face thereof, annular grooves in said removable portion for receiving said segmental-shaped I contacts, cooperating ring-shaped contacts signature in the presence of two Witnesses, 1n said grooves, and a connecting device for this fourth day of November 1915.

said member rigidly connected to one mem FLINT GARRISON. her and passing freely through the remov- Witnesses: 5 able portion of the other member. VVELLS L. CHURCH,

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflixmy GEORGE BAKEWELL. 

